THIS ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION, AN OFFICE OF EDUCATION REGIONAL LABORATORY, CONTAINS AN ADDRESS TO THE STAFF ON THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE CENTER, A REVIEW OF THE STATUS OF EDUCATIONAL PARKS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, AND A REPORT ON CLASSES IN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING WHICH WERE SUBSTITUTED FOR THE…

THE GOALS, RESEARCH TASKS, AND FUNCTIONAL OPERATION OF A RESEARCH AND INSTRUCTION (R AND I) UNIT WERE DESCRIBED. R AND I UNITS WERE ORGANIZED TO PROVIDE THE MEANS TO CONDUCT CLASSROOM RESEARCH AND TO DEVELOP MORE EFFICIENT LEARNING PROCESSES THROUGH THE COOPERATION OF LOCAL SCHOOLS, STATE PERSONNEL, AND UNIVERSITY FACULTY MEMBERS. THE ACTIVITIES…

RACIAL STRIFE, POPULATION MOBILITY, CHRONIC UNEMPLOYMENT, URBAN DECAY, AND OTHER CURRENT ISSUES WHICH AFFECT THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESSES OF LARGE CITIES WERE DELINEATED IN A SEMINAR TO PROVIDE WORKABLE PROPOSALS, GREATER COMMUNICATION, AND UNDERSTANDING AMONG SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS WHO MUST DEAL WITH THESE PROBLEMS IN THEIR DAY-BY-DAY OPERATIONS.…

The Profile of Real/Ideal Scholastic Motivation (PRISM) self-report instrument is included in the user's manual. PRISM is a set of 30 postulates which measures attitudes in an educational setting (i.e., educational self-theory). The instrument has a closed response format chosen on the grounds of reliability, validity, and reactivity. It is scaled…

Focusing on educational administration in Canada, this paper deals with three aspects: concerns of educational administrators, preparation and inservice programs, and research in educational administration. The first section begins by presenting the structure and function of educational administration in Canada, including provincial departments of…

A study of Spanish-speaking children in the first and third grade showed that English proficiency was least fostered by reading instruction in Spanish only, followed by bilingual instruction, with those students receiving instruction in English only becoming most proficient but still far less so than their English-speaking peers. Besides…

Southern states are introducing one or more of a combination of five approaches to teacher education and certification, all of which are aimed at improving the quality of new teachers. These include: (1) adding test requirements at or near the end of the bachelor's degree teacher education program; (2) lengthening the probationary period for new…

Rural education is finally gaining the attention it has been denied for so long. Slight gains, such as federal recognition, have been made. This has been a worldwide trend. A study of rural education conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development details the state of worldwide rural education in a fifteen point outline,…

This handbook is designed to aid educators in implementing The Wisconsin Guide to Local Curriculum Improvement in Industrial Education, K-12. It is not a course of study but an aid to implementing research and development activities into local industrial education programs. The book contains the following three sections: (1) seven content…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 33 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) storytelling; (2) the short story; (3) metaphor and simile; (4) fairy tales; (5) American science fiction; (6) contemporary American fiction; (7) objective and…

The role of the principal during the past two decades can be addressed by looking at the major developments of the era as they influenced the evolution of the principal's role. Fundamental changes in school structure were popularized during the expansionist period of the late 1950s and 1960s. Principals had to be agents of change. Then, a note of…

Experts in education from universities and other centers of research, coming from almost 60 countries and meeting in a world congress, studied the factors underlying self realization in education. The essential points presented through the various reports are: (1) All human beings have potentialities which should be developed to an optimum degree.…

Studies concerning attributes of quality in higher education as defined in academic studies are reviewed. Separate reviews are presented for studies of quality at the graduate level, in professional programs, and at the undergraduate level. Academe's continuing attempts to quantify "quality" so as to measure it empirically rather than subjectively…

Research studies of teachers in developing nations are discussed and synthesized. An examination of government policies in the different countries provides a background against which the findings are viewed. Institutional and methodological characteristics of the studies viewed in each region are analyzed. Unresearched or unanswered problems are…

The major objective of this study was to determine if the achievement of students in a two-hour block would be comparable to students in a three-hour block. Data on student attitudes, attendance, and dropout rates were also gathered to see if there were any positive correlations between resultant data in these areas and student achievement in the…